Jan Šinágl angažovaný občan, nezávislý publicista

… It is my sad duty to inform you that as of today, the Membership of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in the Platform of European Memory and Conscience has been suspended until further notice. … On the first occasion, the Platform requested the newly appointed Director of the Institute Pavla Foglová to explain her business activities in the years 1994‐2000, during which, based on press reports, Ms Foglová might have committed money laundering with an amount of 20 million CZK. This could represent a violation of the Code of the Platform, which stipulates that: "The Member is not connected with, does not and shall not support, in any form, be it financial, personal or material, nondemocratic political structures or persons affiliated with such structures (…)." Neither Director Foglová nor the Institute Council provided any answers to the Platform's questions formulated in letters dated 23 and 25 April 2013. …

To

Pavla Foglová, Direktor

The Institute Council

Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

Siwiecova 2

130 00 Praha 3

Czech Republic

Göteborg, 14 January 2014

Dear Director Foglová,

Dear Institute Council,

It is my sad duty to inform you that as of today, the Membership of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in the Platform of European Memory and Conscience has been suspended until further notice.

An explanation in English and Czech is attached.

Yours truly,

Göran Lindblad

President

CC: Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and Prime Ministr of the Czech Republic

Explanatory statement on the suspension of Membership of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

In accordance with Article 8 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Statute of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, interest association of legal persons (hereinafter "Platform"), the Council of Members as the supreme body of the Platform decided at its meeting on 13 November 2013 that the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (hereinafter "Institute") would be requested for the final time to provide information which it had previously refused to give to the President of the Platform. The President had sent a letter to the Institute formulated as a request for provision of information based on Act No. 106/1999 Coll., the Freedom of Information Act, in its current wording. The Council of Members gave the Institute a deadline of 31 December 2013, after which, should it elapse without a result, the Membership of the Institute in the Platform would be suspended until further notice.

The Institute was informed about the decision of the Council of Members by letter of 13 November 2013.

As the requested information has not been delivered to the Platform until this day, the said suspension of Membership is taking effect as of 14 January 2014. It follows from the suspension of Membership that starting as of today, the Institute shall cease to enjoy the rights and privileges ensuing from the founding documents of the Platform.

Explanation:

This has been the second consecutive case taking place in 2013 when the Institute refused to provide information to the Platform which was essential for the Platform to be able to assess whether the Institute was violating the Code of the Platform, an integral part of its founding documents.

On the first occasion, the Platform requested the newly appointed Director of the Institute Pavla Foglová to explain her business activities in the years 1994‐2000, during which, based on press reports, Ms Foglová might have committed money laundering with an amount of 20 million CZK. This could represent a violation of the Code of the Platform, which stipulates that: "The Member is not connected with, does not and shall not support, in any form, be it financial, personal or material, nondemocratic political structures or persons affiliated with such structures (…)." Neither Director Foglová nor the Institute Council provided any answers to the Platform's questions formulated in letters dated 23 and 25 April 2013.

The current matter in question was a request of the Platform for provision of information whether the five members of the Scientific Council of the Institute, an advisory body of the Director, who were members of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in the past, 1) had held any political functions and 2), whether they had received any payment for their activities for the KSČ. Again, this might represent a violation of the Code of the Platform, which stipulates that: "The Member does not knowingly employ (…) former functionaries with paid political jobs in totalitarian political structures, in paid or unpaid functions."

By letter dated 4 November 2013, the Institute refused to provide the answers arguing that this was private information and an issue of protection of the civic honour and human dignity of the persons in question. This explanation cannot be accepted. On the contrary, the activity of members of the totalitarian Communist party of Czechoslovakia in the years 1948‐1989 is the very subject matter of study of the Institute itself. Pursuant to Article 4 of Act No. 181/2007 Coll., in its current wording, it is the Institute's task, i. a., to study the criminal activity of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, to document the participation of domestic persons on the support of the Communist regime and to publish information about the period of Communist rule and about deeds and fates of individuals. To this end, pursuant to Article 5 of the Act, the Institute is entitled to process personal information to the necessary extent.

The way in which the Institute has reacted to requests by the Platform, which were made in order to dispel the suspicion that the Institute might be violating the Code of the Platform by the personal appointments to the positions of Director and the Scientific Council, has unfortunately only served to increase this suspicion. In this situation, the Council of Members has chosen a sanction which is more lenient than an exclusion of a Member pursuant to Article 4 paragraph 4 of the Statute, and the Platform is merely suspending the Membership of the Institute. The Platform is doing so in good faith that the personal appointments to the bodies of the Institute will change for the better and that it will be able to reinstate the Membership to its full extent.

In Göteborg on 14 January 2014

Göran Lindblad

President

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